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Friday, January 27, 2012

Have you ever been to a party where they have the best appetizers EVER? Well I have. My aunt Julie is a queen in the kitchen. She always makes the best food from taco salad to these delicious meatballs. The best part of the recipe? You can make it now and freeze! That way if you have a spontaneous visitor, you can toss them in the crock pot and serve! Instead of rambling, I better just share.
For the meatballs, you will need:

3lbs lean ground beef

1 (13oz) can evaporated milk

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 tsp pepper

2 eggs

2 cups quick oatmeal

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp chili powder

Mix and shape into balls. Place on a flat pan.

For the sauce, you will need:

4 cups ketchup

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp liquid smoke

1 cup chopped onion

Bring almost to a boil so sugar is dissolved, then pour part of the sauce (about half) over the meatballs and bake for 1 hour at 350*. Simmer the remaining sauce until the onions are done. Pour over meatballs after you take them from the oven and they are in a bowl.

This makes a VERY large batch so (I would recommend) freeze them in quart sized freezer bags and use them as needed! We normally just toss them in a crock pot to re-heat.

Go ahead and LINK UP with Food Friday! I would love to see what you've got cookin'!

Friday, January 20, 2012

I love food. I love to make it and I love to eat it (but mostly make
it). Every Friday I intend to post a new recipe for you to try. I won't
post it unless I have tried to make it because I want to know it is
good.

Before we get started today, I would like to say this: LET YOUR HAIR DOWN! Get a little crazy and throw that recipe card to the side!! I hate reading recipes. Let me re-phrase: I hate following recipes. I love to read them actually, I just don't like being told what to do (so to speak). So here's the deal: I would like to challenge you to read the title of this post, get out the sauce and the "crust", and have at it. Don't look at the measurements, don't look at the toppings, just wing it! If it doesn't turn out how you like it, try it again! Normally when you buy ingredients it doesn't come in "perfect" portions anyhow. Chances are you will have leftovers so start over! If you really love it, write it down! A pinch of this, a touch of that, and KAPOW! You have a recipe that you can slap your name on and give to your kids someday. Because let me tell you, there is no recipe like a mom's recipe.

Now, we LOVE pizza in this house. Primarily Papa Murphy's pizza... but that's not what we are making today. We bought this package of amazing Flatout wraps and decided to try to make a pizza out of them! It had a picture of a pizza on the bag... but who really looks at that when buying. Not us. We had all the ingredients for pizza which inspired this delish dish. Of course it was amazing so I have to share the recipe with you! I kind of improvised so you might need more or less of some things... I guessed a lot and kind of forgot to measure. Woopsie.

Friday, January 13, 2012

I love food. I love to make it and I love to eat it (but mostly make
it). Every Friday I intend to post a new recipe for you to try. I won't
post it unless I have tried to make it because I want to know it is
good.

Before we get started... are any of you superstitious? If so, it is Friday the 13th so wear a helmet and don't walk under any ladders!! = )

Today, we make Rolo Pretzels.

Ok, I am going to warn you right this instant: this is the EASIEST recipe ever, but it is my hubby's favorite treat so I had to share. I made a lot of food for Christmas/New Year's Eve and this was the simplest and tastiest treat. Ready?

You will need:

2 bags of Rolo Candies (we tried caramel Kisses but they weren't as good... use Rolos)
1 1lb bag of pretzles
1 bag of M&Ms (use holiday ones if it is for a holiday)

Turn your oven on to 300*. Place pretzels on baking sheet in one flat layer (close together is fine). Have your sweet husband unwrap all of the candies. Beware... this is the conversation you are likely to have:

Me: Honey, those are for the pretzels. Why do you keep eating them?
Tyler: Well this is a harder job than you'd think.... you have to quality check them once in a while.

Place one Rolo on each of the pretzels.

Stick in oven until softened (around 4-5 minutes). Do NOT let melt all the way... it would be a mess. Take out of oven and immediately place an M&M on top of each.

These were obviously for Christmas. Tyler liked the green ones best.

Stick in fridge to cool quickly and use a spatula to get them off the pan. Store in a cool, dry place.

YUM!

Enjoy and have a WONDERFUL weekend!! I am going to spend mine trying to kick this cold before it gets too serious... crap. I hate being sick.

Friday, January 6, 2012

First of all... YUM! Have you ever been to Cub Foods grocery store and purchased their deliciously awesome Cinnamon Bread? Holy Smoke Stack (as my cousin Anna would say) it is amazing. Of course it is SO hard to spend $3+ on a small loaf of bread that lasts + or - a week (OK in all honesty it is + or - 2 days...) so I thought I would Google it to find the recipe. I found a delicious one at Housewifery so I thought I would share it here. If you do try it (which you should) please let me know how it turns out!!

Combine first 7 ingredients into a mixer bowl.Add the hot water and the oil. Continue to add enough additional flour until the dough cleans the sides of the mixing bowl. Next, place dough in a large oiled bowl, turning over to coat the top surface (helps to prevent it from sticking to plastic wrap. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until double.

Roll dough into a large rectangle. Pour a little more than half of your butter onto the dough and spread all over. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar mixture then add a healthy covering of brown sugar.

Roll loosely, cinnamon roll style. (Be sure it’s loose!)

Cut
diagonally into 1” slices going first one direction, and then cut
diagonally going the other direction. It should look like an "X"
pattern.

Pour a little melted butter into the bottom of each parchment-lined loaf pan. Heap the chopped dough into pans. (mine made 3 regular sized loaf pans, but could probably stretch it to 4). If
you have any extra melted butter, you can drizzle it over each loaf -
then sprinkle with a little more cinnamon sugar mixture. Allow dough to rise till double. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 - 30 minutes, until internal temp reaches 190 - 200. Allow to rest in pans for about 10 minutes, then remove to wire racks.

The story above reminds me: I have the most EMBARRASSING story ever to tell you. I will tell you tomorrow. And get excited because there is a video to go with it! Yes folks, my most embarrassing moment ever got caught on tape. Awesome. =) THANK GOODNESS IT IS FRIDAYYYYYYY! OHMYGOSH I am so excited. Melissa

A midwest mama married to her best friend. We're always on the go and I love every minute of it. I have a passion for photography, cooking, laughing, and spending time with my family. If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart!